Tell it

A pitch is not a performance. It is compression. You have ninety seconds, and there are exactly four beats.

Problem, fifteen seconds. One specific person, not a category. “My neighbour Sam forgets bin day every week” beats “waste management is a challenge for households” every single time.

Product, twenty seconds. Show it. Point the camera at the screen, or at the table, or at the thing. Do not describe what the viewer could simply be looking at.

Proof, thirty seconds. This is the longest beat, because it is the one that makes adults sit up, and it is the part beginners leave out. Numbers and quotes only: “I talked to fourteen people. Nine had the problem. Three paid me eight dollars each. One said, ‘I'd pay double if it also reminded my husband.’”

Ask, fifteen seconds. One clear thing you want next. More customers, a specific introduction, a first retailer. Not “thanks for listening”.

Then cut everything that is not one of those four beats. The compression rule is simple and ruthless: if a sentence contains no fact, delete it. Almost every first draft opens with “Hi, my name is, and today I'm going to talk about” — that is ten percent of your time spent saying nothing at all. Open on the problem instead.

Film it on a phone, in one take, three times, and keep the best one. A slightly wobbly video that is specific and true beats a polished one that is vague. Then send it to an adult who has never heard about your project and ask them to tell you what you do. If they can repeat it back, you are done.